'Killer fungus' could be good news for habitats decimated by invasive moss

A caller taxon of "killer fungus" has been discovered successful Britain that destroys an aggressively invasive plant, raising hopes that decimated autochthonal habitats could beryllium restored.

It infects the heath-star moss that is damaging UK environments by taking implicit and turfing retired different species.

Scientists accidental it could correspond a uncommon fightback by the British situation against invasive species.

The idiosyncratic tracking the dispersed of the moss die-back fungus crossed the UK took BBC News to spot its "fairy rings of death" successful southbound Wales.

Dr George Greiff, 30, made the find portion walking successful the Isle of Wight 4 years ago.

He spotted dormant invasive mosses connected a cliffside and took samples, but couldn't enactment retired the killer.

But helium kept seeing much cases of decaying moss. Working with scientists successful the UK and France, helium has present managed to portion unneurotic the puzzle.

The culprit was a potent fungus ne'er seen earlier by scientists, present named moss die-back.

We often deliberation of fungus arsenic atrocious but see this 1 to beryllium a "goodie".

Its victim, the heath-star moss, is each implicit Britain. Look connected hillsides, soil dunes, oregon a elemental plot fence. "It's aggressive. I've adjacent seen it increasing successful tarmac," says Greiff.

"It is simply a pretty-looking thing," helium concedes, plucking fragments disconnected a clump torn from a carpet of greenish moss. "But it's caused a batch of problems," helium says.

Around 2,000 non-native plants and animals person been brought to Britain from each implicit the satellite by people, accidentally oregon sometimes deliberately.

Some extremity up dominating the environment. The astir celebrated is astir apt the North American grey squirrel, which has astir wiped retired our autochthonal reddish squirrel populations.

In the works world, amongst the biggest offenders are the invasive Japanese knotweed which damages people's homes, oregon rhododendron that leaves toxins successful soils.

But not a batch is known astir the heath-star moss. Scientists deliberation it arrived connected British ungraded successful the 1940s from determination successful the confederate hemisphere. By 1990 it was everywhere.

"This moss has conscionable exploded. In the 1930s, autochthonal mosses would person been increasing present instead," Greiff explains.

There are much than 1,000 types of moss successful the UK. They are the backbone of our astir precious habitats similar uncommon somesthesia rainforests (damp coastal woodlands) and peatlands that store carbon. But they are threatened by non-native plants.

The heath-star moss sends retired spores acold and wide and reproduces quickly, making it a palmy invader.

"The archetypal clip I saw it, I had nary thought what it was. I threw it successful the bin," says Grieff, who has been moving astatine Amgueddfa Cymru depository successful Cardiff.

He's guiding maine on a way successful the Bannau Brycheiniog nationalist parkland adjacent Abergavenny, southbound Wales.

"In heathlands similar this one, autochthonal mosses person gone locally extinct oregon reduced importantly successful their populations," helium says.

His eyes are fixed to the ground. He scans the debased banks for "patches of death".

His endowment for quiet, cautious reflection of plants nary taller than our ankles is connected show.

Just a fewer metres into our walk, Greiff finds what I've travel to see. "It's a large arsenic my hand," helium says, spreading his fingers implicit a brownish ringing of dormant moss.

Honestly, it is little melodramatic than I expected. But our cameraman Gwyndaf Hughes has brought a macro lens, and erstwhile I adjacent through, I spot achromatic blobs suspended connected the moss tips. It is the fungus astatine work.

Greiff points retired babe heather plants adjacent present capable to turn successful gaps near by decayed moss.

Now Greiff knows what the adjuvant fungus tin do, helium looks for it anyplace helium goes. He jokes that the representation of wherever it has been recovered is besides a representation of his vacation destinations.

"It's taken a batch of DNA sequencing to afloat place this fungus," helium says, showing maine dormant moss nether a microscope successful a laboratory astatine Amgueddfa Cymru museum.

The fungus clings onto the moss stem, ballooning similar candy floss astir a stick. It's adjacent penetrated immoderate of the moss cells.

He's present worked retired that it is simply a adjacent comparative of the ash die-back fungus that has killed up to 80 cardinal ash trees successful Britain.

A almighty fungus destroying plants sounds similar a imaginable menace to different taxon and biodiversity.

But Greiff's investigation truthful acold suggests it lone affects the heath-star moss, and to a constricted grade 1 different benignant of moss, though much enactment is needed to corroborate the findings.

He believes that the origins of this fungus whitethorn beryllium successful a autochthonal taxon that has since adapted to termination the heath-star moss. This could beryllium a "rare illustration of the British situation warring back", helium says.

Usually, invasive taxon are deliberately targeted by humans to effort to bring them nether control, similar the inaugural to provender contraceptives to grey squirrels.

"Some radical mightiness effort to cod this moss to effort and get escaped of it, but it's not precise effective. It would beryllium precise resource-intensive, precise expensive," says Greiff.

"To person a earthy biologic power cause doing it for america is truly valuable," helium explains.

In furniture drawers holding the oldest postulation of mosses successful the UK, the museum's Head of Plant and Earth Science Dr Nathan Smith shows maine dried mosses successful insubstantial envelopes, immoderate dating backmost to the 1880s.

By looking for grounds of the moss die-back fungus connected these samples, scientists privation to pinpoint precisely however and erstwhile it appeared.

"This fungus gives an accidental to prevention these unsocial moss landscapes that are homes for insects, fungi, molluscs, different plants," explains Smith.

"It gives a existent accidental to sphere and contiguous their uniqueness and beauty," helium says.

Mosses are conscionable 1 portion of Britain's analyzable biodiversity. But arsenic our quality is classed amongst the astir depleted successful the world, with one successful six taxon astatine hazard of extinction, discovering a power connected situation demolition is simply a origin for hope.

"It's breathtaking successful truthful galore respects. Though I americium the lone 1 looking for the fungus. It would beryllium bully if immoderate different radical did too," says Greiff.